"Can I help you?" asked the dark-haired woman behind the counter. She had wide chubby cheeks and a generous smile, reminding him a little of his beloved cook. Her dimpled chin had a spot of white dust on it, maybe flour but possibly sugar.
Jory liked her immediately.
His greedy eyes examined the glass case. Chunky cookies, crusty fruit pies and colorfully iced cakes covered shelf after shelf.
Yummy.
"Good evening," Jory responded as he hungrily took in his choices. "I saw your sign and decided we'd like a little snack. Do you happen to know if baby dragons can have sweets?"
He didn't want to poison his new friend.
The woman's eyes went to Jory's shoulder, her eyes widening. "I don't think anything will poison a dragon…"
As if knowing it was the object of discussion, the little creature leaped off Jory's shoulder and landed on the counter with an ungainly thud of scales and a scrabble of claws.
The baker squeaked in surprise.
"It's all right. It doesn't mean any harm."
At least he hoped it didn't.
The creature's long tongue darted out, snagging a small, white-powdered cookie off a crystal plate on the counter.
"I guess we're taking some cookies," Jory said in a dry voice.
The lady laughed. "He seems harmless enough."
Jory picked up the creature's back legs for a moment. "She."
"What's her name?"
He shrugged. "She's not mine. I just rescued her from some kids. Right now, I'm calling her precious. I don't know if I'm staying on this planet so I don't want to become too attached to her. Is there a homeless dragon shelter?"
What else did people do with found pets?
While he was talking, the baker opened a pink box and slid a half dozen powdered cookies inside before scooting the platter away from the small beast. "You might try talking with the dragon trainer, Maurek. He's my nephew. He keeps track of all the dragons in the kingdom. He'll want to register her if nothing else. Bloodlines are important. Though I can't say I've ever seen a black dragon before."
"Really?" Jory gave the creature a little pat. Gold eyes blinked at him, and it gave a rumbling purr. "I'll look Maurek up tomorrow."
"Good luck with your dragon. It was brave of you to intercede with those thugs. That dragon owes its life to you." The woman's smile said she meant the words. "Consider your treats on the house, as a gift."
Jory returned the smile. "Thank you."
He watched in amazement as the dragon headed to the next display and swallowed a small tart in one gulp before climbing back up Jory's arm and settling around his shoulders again. Her stomach was swelled like a snake after eating its catch, except her prey was the wild sugar monster.
"Want me to pack some more of those cookies up?"
Jory shook his head. "I'm not sure if she should be eating that much sugar at one time. Though I'd love it if you could wrap up some of those little mini cakes, and is that lemon?" He pointed at a flaky pastry with something yellow oozing out.
"Lemon cream."
"Great, I'll take that too."
Minutes later, he was back on the street with a fat pink box and a sugar-coated dragon. Every few steps, powder fell from the tiny paws like little drifts of sugary snow and dusted Jory's jacket.
"Messy beast," Jory scolded in gentle tones while brushing his dark jacket with the back of his hand. "Let's sneak back to our room and hope nobody sees us." He wasn't sure of the castle policy with keeping pets in your room, but he was too tired to deal with it. After his adventuresome day, all he wanted to do was lie down and get some rest and not get killed by his brother's assassin.
Chapter Seven
